I'm here for some advice... two years ago I snapped my femur, cracked my pelvis and crushed my T-8 and T-9. It was my 64 th jump and someone swooped in on me I freaked out and for so ungodly reason I grabbed a riser at 150 feet. I have 114 jumps now... so needless to say I am still in the sport, my problem is, and even jumping once creates an immense amount of pain. My back is the worst but my hip/pelvis is giving me more and more trouble. I've had four surgeries since the accident, the last one has actually made things worse it was called a kyphoplasty and they basically poured cement into my T-8 to attempt to decompress it some... The pain after I jump usually immediately after is so bad that I am unable to walk or stand for more than about ten minutes. This usually lasts for about two days sometimes more.

My question is has anyone done something similar and have you continued jumping? How? Is there any surgery or physical therapy that works for you?

I'm here for some advice... two years ago I snapped my femur, cracked my pelvis and crushed my T-8 and T-9. It was my 64 th jump and someone swooped in on me I freaked out and for so ungodly reason I grabbed a riser at 150 feet. I have 114 jumps now... so needless to say I am still in the sport, my problem is, and even jumping once creates an immense amount of pain. My back is the worst but my hip/pelvis is giving me more and more trouble. I've had four surgeries since the accident, the last one has actually made things worse it was called a kyphoplasty and they basically poured cement into my T-8 to attempt to decompress it some... The pain after I jump usually immediately after is so bad that I am unable to walk or stand for more than about ten minutes. This usually lasts for about two days sometimes more.

My question is has anyone done something similar and have you continued jumping? How? Is there any surgery or physical therapy that works for you?

I'd appreciate any help.... Blue Skies

Can you elaborate a bit more on the accident? did you grab a front riser and not flare? or what? also what canopy and wing loading were you at?

Sorry if that seems slightly off your question but Im curious!

Sorry to hear of your continued suffering... Have you much physiotherapy for your injuries?

I know of at least one person at my DZ who has had a 'longer' injury list than that (maybe not more severe than yours....just more different breaks) and has now gone back to jumping although he does 'feel it' after a day in the saddle.

Are you still having treatment? Did you just 'crack' your pelvis or crush it? is there pins in there now?

more info needed. But I would advise you to speak to your surgeon and a GOOD physiotherapist for this type of injury.

Well from what I was told I went into a swoop almost and caught my knee before I could pull out of it. So no I didn't get a chance to flare. I don't remember it myself... I've just been told about it. I was flying a 175 triathalon, and my exit weight was at the time 177 so I was right at 1:1.... I do have pins in my pelvis, and because of that they also found another issue (severe hip dysplasia totally unrelated to the accident.) So my pelvis was cut apart and rearranged. It was called a PAO surgery, periacetabularosteotomy...

I had about a year of just regular physical and occupational therapy, but not physiotherapy whats the difference? I don't think I've heard of it before... I am open to any suggestions... I'm 23 and feel 80 LOL . Thanks

I have never even come close to experiencing what you have experienced. I would, however, highly - HIGHLY - recommend you see an Orthopedic Surgeon who specializes in Sports Medicine. There is a huge difference there. A phisical therapist who specializes in Sports Mecicine can be of great benefit for you as well.

My husband has had three failed back surgeries to try and treat a compressed sciatic nerve and a whole host of physical therapists, chiropracters, pain management specialisit, massage therapists, you name it. None of it worked. Fortunately he has an open mind about things so he finally let me experiment on him.

I did ballet for over 15 years including professionally. I also have done pilates for almost as long (dancers knew about it waaaay before Hollywood did). I built a ballet barre in one of the spare bedrooms and got to work on him. I figured that if I could teach 4 and 5 year old little girls ballet, I could teach a 35 year old man. This has worked far better for him than any of the other methods he has tried.

The point is to explore every option you have, do not accept that 'this is just the way it is', push, shove, get yourself taken care of. Mostly, keep an open mind about things. You never know. I may start a ballet studio for grown ups with busted backs and legs...

The surgeon who worked on my hip and my femur was a sports med ortho. He thinks I am nuts for jumping but told me well if you break yourself again I will fix you again. LOL.

I am sorry to hear about your husband, I know the feeling. I've done pretty much everything as well. I have a spinal cord stimulator, done PT, OT, I even tried hypnotism, acupuncture and acupressure... I have not seen a chiropractor more out of fear than anything else...

Thank you for the suggestions, I am pushing every avenue I can think of... I just want to jump and live without pain again. Pilates scares me a little dunno if I am that strong. Thank you again.

I'm just going to give pillates a strong plug. I had a pretty serious back fracture 10 years ago and ended up with an lumbar 1-3 fusion. The doctor and PT called me done when I could walk and get around OK. I started pillates and gradually regained flexibility and core strength. Work with a good 1 on 1 instructor and they should taylor it for your body. My instructor was an exdancer and the first visit we talked about my concerns and limitations. It's helped me keep skydiving with pretty much no restrictions.

Seriously give Pilates some thought. How can you say that Pilates scares you? We're supposed to tough chicks, right?

The main benefit of doing that and/or ballet is that it will 'open up your hips' - meaning give you more flexibility and strength in your hip joints as well as change the way you walk so that it's more fluid rather than banging up and down.

Whatever you do, DO NOT go take a Pilates mat class or any other group class. You need to meet with a certified Pilates instructor (trained in the Joseph Pilates method, not that creepy blonde chick that hawks videos on late night infomercials) who will provide you with personalized, one-on-one instruction. What usually scares people are the apparati but that's exactly what you need to start with. The mat work is what you build up your strength for. Incidentially, everytime I have had a new skydiving instructor, they've commented on my arch on the ground. That's Pilates. When you do the tandem ground training and they make you practice the sit-landing where you're balanced on your tail bone with your legs in the air - I can sit like that forever. That position is a core position of most Pilates mat exercises.

My husband went to see a chiropracter out of frustration. I don't recommend it. The return on investment is about the same as setting fire to your money but far less satisfying. That was after he had a cortisone injection directly into the sciatic nerve where it branches out of the spinal cord. That was fun...

The bitter irony of it all is that Pilates and ballet got him feeling so much better that he decided that it was time to try skydiving. Mostly it was "to see what's so damn great about it." Everything went soooo well other than sitting in a chair for the 4 hour static line training class.

Everything was perfect. He made his first jump. He loved it. He miscalculated (by about ten+ feet) where the ground was and blew the landing. His left big toe is broken in two places and he now has one of those big ski boot looking casts. It's the same leg that has the compressed sciatic nerve so he's now begging for amputation. He's also wondering if he can jump again with a cast. He's not a bright man sometimes...

Okay I think I am convinced I am going to give Pilates a shot. LOL I am tough, just not as limber as I once was. I am former gymnast too, my ballet instructor actually told me I was the least graceful woman she'd ever met. go figure. Pilates does sound like it could help though so I will give it a shot.

Just a suggestion too for your husband, I don't know exactly what he's going through but from the time I was 12 until last year so 22 I dealt with nerve pain in my right leg... it was something called RSDS... the pain was bad enough that I learned how to drive a car with my left foot, and still have a limp. The point being last year I got a spinal cord stimulator (SCS) put in and the pain is gone. I was on crutches for about half of the past ten years, constantly fighting nerve pain the SCS is a god sent, as soon as I turn it on the pain is gone.

LOL well we all know women are the smarter of the sexes Still hope he gets back in the air after the cast is off.

Thank you so much fo the pilates suggestion, I will let you know how it goes.